Going through changes

He just kept his glare on her, even after she had asked her question. There was no doubt that he seemed to hate her very being. His body radiating hostility like an angered animal, but he stood in place. "I'm sure you know me at this point. At least Amos would be able to know." he said, smiling a cold smile as if it was forced on his lips. He then looked to the summoner next to them. "I will let you pass if you give me Belial. If not, then I take all of you and I take you back to the hideout you're running from." he said. Amos was just quiet through it all, but then again he was still kind of shocked to know who it was in front of them.

She would know? Her eyes were clearly filled with confusion until she remembered the talk she had had with her father. How some man had been out to sabotage her parents coming together as well as her birth. But he was dead, right? So many thoughts were going through her mind before the guy demanded her father be handed over. Shaking her head she looked at Amos and then at her father who was still passed out. "I won't hand over my father as if he was just some bargaining chip," she said rather adamant in keeping her family together. She knew Amos would've handed him over by now, but he seemed stunned in the presence of this stranger. "You clearly have no idea who you are dealing with," she said, her hand folding in to a fist. She could feel rage inside of her, making her heart a little heavier to beat because of the darkness within.

The stranger moved closer, but she wasn't sure what to do and as Amos got pushed away she looked to her brother with fright in her eyes. Was he hurt badly? She didn't have time to react as the stranger closed in on her, his offer changing and she was about to refuse as he grabbed on to Amos. The snap made her eyes water, running to him, dropping her stick and falling to her knees. "Amos ... Amos please wake up," she pleaded, barely able to see him as she was sobbing. She looked at the strange daemon, "I'll go with you ... Just stop hurting the ones I love," she said, leaning down to place a kiss against Amos' forehead, closing his eyes to not make him look so scary. She hoped he was alright, but he looked so lifeless. She didn't even dare think about him actually being dead as it would send her spiraling into madness.
Getting back on her feet it was clear she wasn't strong, but she went with the stranger anyways, not sure what was going to happen, but with how things were going she was living on borrowed time anyways.

Of course a person like him would never give in to demands, but she had to at least try. As she followed him she felt safest with her hood up. Perhaps because it made her hide a bit more. His words made her swallow, but she did as he asked, her blonde hair showing but most telling was her green eyes. The same color as the ones Baal used to have before the artifact left him with just a few specs. "I don't understand why you are doing this," she just said, not that she expected him to answer anyways. Maybe if he kept talking he would get less scary?

"You probably dont understand a lot of things." Simeon just replied a little disinterested. If he wasnt wrong between the time she was supposedly born to now, she wasnt really supposed to be a teenager. But here they were. "If you know the history of daemons, then you do know why I'm doing this. I want to uphold the order. As it was meant to be." he said, looking back at her. How annoyingly alike she was resembling both her parents. He looked back ahead. "Are you infected as well? Or is it only Amos?" he asked out of curiousity, but he wasnt actually expecting her to answer.

Her father hadn't subjected her to a lot of knowledge about the daemons, but the whole ordeal with Amos having to marry had given her some key pointers. His next question made her look down, probably giving away the answer, "I am," she said just to be clear. At least she had been the one to disclose it, so the power was with her. "The infection itself is pretty unstable within me, well I suspect because of my genes," she also chose to disclose. Not really sure why she was all talkative, but she guessed it was her go to if she felt anxious or a little stressed. "If you just wait long enough I'll die on my own," she shrugged, but she was clearly scared of death.

He just hummed at her reply, smiling a little as it would just make his job that much easier. All he had to do was just keep her out of her parents reach. "Do not mistake me for someone else, little girl. I do want you to die. Even more now that it had cost me my own life to try and rid you from Buffy before you were born." he explained, grinding his teeth a little at the thought. "It will be a lesson to your parents and any other daemon that's considering mingling with other species. It just wasnt meant to be." he said in a voice full of spite, reaching a car that he gestured her to get into. He looked at her but he couldnt look at her in any other way than with hatred in his eyes.

Baal woke, sitting up as he looked around, a little confused as to where they were. He saw Amos on the ground, frowning before he realized Saoirse was nowhere to be seen. "No..." he mumbled under his breath, crawling over to check on Amos. He felt for a pulse, but there wasnt anything to be found. Gritting his teeth he felt annoyed that he had been too weak to stay awake. And annoyed about the fact that they hadnt just stayed in the hideout. He pushed himself up and grabbed Amos. This would have been easier with two arms, but it wasnt really among the options. He eventually got them to the Southern district where a cab could drive them the rest of the way.

Saoirse felt her heart in her throat. She was scared, but mostly her thoughts were with Amos. Was he alright? She feared the worst, but she knew that things had been bad before. Only this seemed too serious. They reached a car and she got in, her green eyes looking briefly at the angry daemon before sitting down in the back seat. At least she wasn't being physically restrained, she thought. Wherever this would take her, she knew it wouldn't be good.

Getting them out had been the easy part, but now it was a waiting game. The cultists almost constantly came to their room, asking for Baal, but she just shooed them away, saying he was preparing for a grand ceremony. Of course he wasn't, hopefully he had managed to get out and be on his way to another district. But the lack of knowing made her scared. She wasn't packing anything, well besides the numerous scrolls she had accumulated over their stay. She wanted to take those with her because she had a feeling it would help her and Baal now that they had fully merged with their halves of the artifact.
Eventually it seemed like the whole compound was rioting. The healer had snitched, letting it be known that Baal no longer had his marked hand. Of course they came to their room to check for him, but they found nothing. Buffy was heading down a corridor, her hood over her head as she was avoiding the many cultists running around. It wasn't an easy feat. Her heart in her throat as she reached the door and headed outside. Then someone spotted her and she had to make a run for it, out through the gates and down the streets as she was being chased by an angry mob of cultists ready to capture her again. Good thing she didn't have to worry about anyone else as she just ran for it.
Of course getting out would be hard now that people knew who to look for, so instead of getting out she went to the pillar. The destruction alone it had caused was indescribable. Would the world ever return to normal? At least by the pillar no-one dared to go closer than the gates of the cemetery. Sitting down she was trying to catch her breath, looking at the pillar in front of her. It was crazy to think that Baal had been the one to open it.

Eventually they reached the house in Western. No one would probably think to look here as it was too obvious. Maybe obvious enough to be an advantage. He carried Amos inside, having to find the spare key to get in, but in they got. He placed the young daemon on the sofa, looking at him for a bit before he sighed. He felt his neck, feeling the crack. He wouldnt be able to do anything on his own. He got up and stood for a bit before it seemed that the reality of the situation was hitting him. It was so obvious. Someone had taken Saoirse. And he didnt dare think of the possible perpetrators. He went to look for something, finding a spare phone that he used to sent Alyssa a message, letting her know Amos was here and safe. He then went to the kitchen and got out the medical kit, but he just looked at it and didnt know if it would help much.

Alyssa was still not doing great, but now she was at least somehow able to move around. Getting the text made her think it was a trap, but then again, the prospects of seeing her son again was overshadowing that fear. She got to the house, feeling a bit weird about the whole situation. She still looked pretty weak, her cheeks sunken in, but she was surviving. Just to be sure she had brought a couple of trusted empusas with her. Opening the door carefully she stepped in. The home looked virtually unchanged, except for the dust laying over everything. It felt like ages since they had been here. Walking in to the living room she gasped as she saw her son, but she knew better. She knew Amos and how incredible his healing was. She leaned down, grabbing his head, twisting it and making it snap in to place. She moved backwards, having to sit down in a chair before she looked up at Baal entering. "You look like shit," she scoffed.

The young daemon would survive, but it was like he was always put in some sort of resting state while his body healed fatal wounds. Baal couldnt wrap his head around it, but he didnt felt like he needed to understand it either. He heard Alyssa enter and sat for a bit before he got up and joined them in the living room. "I presume implying the same about you would just be rubbing it in." he said before he got a chair and sat down too. He went on to explain most of what had happened, his plans and now how Saoirse was missing and he woke up to find Amos like this.

Alyssa just listened, but she couldn't understand Baal mind. She couldn't understand how he had ever thought that stooping down to that level would have any redemption for him. "The only reason why I haven't killed you right now is because you brought me my son back," she said dryly. It was clear she wouldn't be willing to forgive him any time soon, not for what he had done to so many people. Sitting up she looked at her son, knowing that he probably despised the summoner too. Or could she even call him a summoner now that his hand had been taken from him?
"Simeon has returned, I'm pretty sure you'd know that by now, but things aren't adding up, and none of the Aelius siblings are willing to talk," she said, grinding her teeth. The last person she wanted to deal with was her former husband in all of this. "He has his own body and has been moving around pretty unnoticed because no-one has given a description of him," jt was quite a paranoid feeling to have when everyone on the street could potentially be Simeon. "Have you heard anything from Buffy?" It worried Alyssa a lot where the fenix or whatever she was now was. Besides that her mind kept thinking of places where Saoirse could be.

He didnt really take her words to heart as he had only expected that kind of reaction from her. He looked to Amos as well, wondering what had happened for him to have his neck snapped. It didnt seem that there had really been a fight. He nodded as Alyssa spoke of Simeon, looking down at the ground as she explained. "We know. We met with Elora Aelius that provided a vague written description, but we dont know if it is to be trusted. Since the meeting, Elora has been missing and we have yet to talk to Raziela. Elora has also provided her location." he then explained. The notion of Buffy made him look away. "No. But she's still alive." he said, looking down at his wrist.

They had met with Elora? That was the last person that Alyssa would ever think of to reach out, but she guessed it wasn't a usual time they were in right now. The mention of Raziela made her grit her teeth. That little brat thought she had some claim to what was rightfully hers, but Alyssa refused to give it up. "Well then, Raziela might be our next move then; If Saoirse is missing, perhaps that sorry excuse for an empusa might be of help," she said, turning her head to cough in to her sleeve. Shit, she wasn't doing good, but it seemed like all of them were pretty defeated at this point. "But I think we should wait until Buffy returns; It will give you and Amos time to rest," although she didn't like the thought of leaving Saoirse out there more than necessary.

"Maybe." he said with a small shrug. He didnt know what use the empusa really was to the whole thing, but then again, he wasnt exactly of trusting nature. He looked at his sister, like he was reminding himself of what he had done to her in his madness. "I'm not fit to fight, even with rest." he just said, feeling it a little bitter to admit but it was better than lying. She could probably see it either way, how he was weaker, well not as weak as Buffy had seen him prior to the artifact's reunion, but it wasnt like he was as strong as he had been when he was draining her through the black mass.

"Clearly none of us are ... But that haven't stopped us before," Alyssa argued. She knew how far Baal was willing to go for his family when it really counted. On that part the two of them were very alike, even if the empusa hated to admit that now. She looked to her son instead, breathing out through her nose. "We have until he wakes up; My bet is his first thought is going to be scolding us for not finding Saoirse yet and then he'll want to head out to find her," she said. She knew her son pretty well, but she also knew her niece decently enough to know how strong she was. "Saoirse might be weakened, but she has a lot of spirit; She's not Buffy's daughter for nothing," she argued, leaning back in the chair, not trusting Baal, but she was exhausted still. At least some of her empusa were there to keep an eye on the whole ordeal.

"You are right." he just agreed. It was better than arguing with each other while they couldnt do a thing about it either way. She spoke of Amos and he sighed. As much as the young daemon had the best of intentions, it was quite tiresome on the receiving end. "She is still so young. She shouldnt have to be strong or even in danger like this." he just said, but he was just angry at himself for not having been strong enough once again. They just sat in silence until Amos seemed to start moving.

He hated when he was killed because it wasnt death that he faced but more like some endless nightmare till he eventually regained conscience. He shot up to sit, only to lay back down as he felt so dizzy. "Simeon." he just said, closing his eyes as he drew in a shaky breath. He knew he had frozen when he had realized who the mysterious daemon had been and he felt so weak for not having been able to push through his state of shock. He hadnt realized where he was or it seemed like he didnt care. "I fucking froze." he mumbled, lifting a hand to rub his face.

Alyssa had to scoff at Baal's words. "She does have to; You brought her in to a world that from the get go wanted her gone ... She's been fighting this battle since before her birth, and you know that. But now it has just caught up to her," she spoke rather rational. She had been there all the way, seeing how Amos had struggled and had to sacrifice a part of himself to keep his sister safe. They had all made sacrifices to have Saoirse here today, but the poor trybrid still had to face every day by herself. Shielding her had been their way of letting her have a somewhat peaceful childhood, but it was clear that Saoirse was growing faster than anyone. Who really knew how much time they had if she just kept growing and getting older like this? Sure it had seemed to slow down, but who said she wouldn't get a growth spurt again?
As Amos woke up, she opened her eyes after resting, sitting up to get a better look at her son. He didn't look too good himself, but she wondered if Buffy had been able to help him. She hoped so. "Was it Simeon who took Saoirse?" she asked rather seriously.

Even if she chose to be rational didnt mean he had to. It was his daughter, of course no reason could ever get to him if she wasnt safe. Amos woke and his first word only made the pit in Baal's stomach grow wider. The summoner just got up and went out into the garden. He worried what would happen to Saoirse, and he dreaded having to tell Buffy.

He heard his mom's voice and clearly looked surprised before he looked at her. And it was like when he did that, he just broke, feeling his eyes water as he nodded. "Yeah." he said, sitting up a little carefully as he was still quite dizzy. He figured he would be for at least a bit longer. "I didnt protect her, mom. I failed." he said, feeling his lip tremble a bit at the thought. He sniffled and rubbed his nose, looking down at the ground. "We promised to protect her with the bond we made. And I still failed her."